U.S. Army soldiers listen to the mission briefing for a population engagement patrol at Joint Security Station Shula, Iraq, July 18, 2008. The soldiers are assigned to the 101st Airborne Division's Company B, 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Manuel J. MartinezFrom The Sydney Morning Herald:
BAGHDAD: As US troops have disengaged from Baghdad over recent months, members of the local councils who had for years been among their staunchest allies - providing information about extremists and insight into Iraqi society - say they have felt powerless and abandoned.
The Iraqi Government has taken no steps to hold elections for the councils, and the Baghdad Provincial Council is culling members it deems unqualified or unfit for service.
The looming demise of the local councils - at least as they were set up by the US - is an ominous sign of the democracy that is likely to reign in Iraq as the Americans leave, the members say. They are worried that constituents will no longer have grassroots representation and power will become too centralised.
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My Comment: Will Iraq fall apart if the Americans leave .... I have my doubts. It will be unstable and it will also be (probably) very violent. But many people are sick of war and it is probably these people who will consolidate power and will try their best to insure that sectarian violence does not get out of hand.
At least that is what everyone is hoping for.